Local History on the Council Agenda

As a member of the working party planning 'Heritage Day in Historic Lincolnshire' I have become aware of the delicate relationships existing between local government, heritage, and tourism, not to mention educational bodies providing classes in local history, archaeology, conservation, and the like. Both the local government scene and the funding of informal adult education are going through a period of review and change, which obviously creates extra nervousness among the proponents of various interests.

In historic Lincolnshire, the Local Government Commission have recommended the retention of the two-tier system of county and district councils within the area administered by the Lincolnshire County Council set up in 1974 but this has yet to be agreed and, even if it is, there may be much tidying up of overlapping functions. In the north of the historic county, where the abolition of the Humberside County Council is all but a formality, nervousness is at a higher pitch. Other parts of the country face comparable problems and fears that county archives may be dismembered or run by clumsy joint committees are especially rife.